Codesign of a Neurological Physiotherapy Student-Led Clinic With Students and Patients: An Exploratory Qualitative Study.

Abstract

Introduction: This study explores students' and patients' views of a UK physical therapy student-led clinic (SLC) for neurological rehabilitation and, using a codesign approach, it proposes an optimal design of a physical therapy SLC for neurological rehabilitation for patient participation and student learning.

Review of literature: There is a paucity of literature examining experiences of neurological rehabilitation SLCs. Although research supports the utilization of codesign methodologies with patients and for curriculum development, there remains a gap regarding its application to SLCs in physical therapy for individuals with neurological conditions.

Subjects: Convenience sampling was used to recruit 4 patient and 4 student participants to take part in the study.

Methods: This qualitative study employed exploratory codesign based on the participatory action research approach. Three online codesign workshops were facilitated by the research team. Thematic analysis of each workshop informed the outline for the next.

Results: Patients perceived that the SLC improved their overall well-being, and they highly valued being able to access rehabilitation. Students reported that they developed a range of clinical skills through participation in the SLC but would have liked a more in-depth orientation. The codesign process identified 5 key elements for the optimal design of the physical therapy neurological SLC: student support, continuity, supervision, peer-assisted learning, and orientation.

Discussion: Findings suggest that the SLC provides both a quality learning experience and a patient service, which is safe, effective, and sustainable. Future research should be undertaken with different stages of students and in different university settings. The codesign approach has been shown to be feasible for students and patients and could be used across other aspects of curriculum design.

Conclusion: This novel study using codesign methodology provides initial findings of key elements to optimize SLCs in neurological physical therapy, to enhance student learning and patient experience.